Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-12
RUSSIAN OIL WELL
rig LARGEST FLOWER EVER
KNOWN IN THE WORLD.

n-,.eh.reinr Over 0 Tons Of Pstro.
I..n Par uour.A Wen which spouta
OH to the Height Of Nearly 2s1
Feet.
Agood deal has been said lately ccncern'
ing the possibility Of Russian oil driving the
American article out Of European MARKED
and very extensive consular reports wezs
published ON the subject . short time aga
interest in tho matter will be revived bya
report that comes from the Bakur oil dis.
tricts of Russia to the effect that the largest
flowing well ever known In the world has
been struck there. The amount of oil which
IS said to be discharging seems simply IN
credible, but it IS by no means improbable,
for the reason that in 1883 q well in the same
district called the Droojba well spouted
enormous quantities OF oil.
This new we'll called the TagieR well u
said to be discharging $4,000 pools OF Pc
troleum an hour. As q pood Is equivalent
to about Sc pounds of our a~voirdupois weight.
this we'll must be discharging over 500 tons
of oil an hour, or over 1000 tons for the "A
hours.
The Droojba well spouted at the rate OF
nearly 3, 800 tons per "a, hours. For 4S days
it discharged a daily average Of $4,000 gal
Ions. and in lis days it yielded more than
IS, OOO, 900 gallons. It spouted to the height
Of nearly 200 feet, willie the new Tagieh well
spouts to the height Of nearly 224 feet Al
though the well is over three miles from the
town of Bakur, yet petroleum a Is pour
ing upon the buildings and streets.
A THRILLING SPECTACLE.
Tho scene at the we'll is said to be awful
The discharge is accompanied by an awful
roar, great stones are hurled . terrific DIS.
lance, while the wind carries the fine sand
which spouts up with the oil often miles
away. It is to be regretted that most OF tho
oil spouted from this well will be lost. Such
a waste seems barbarous, yet, owing to tho
want of a pipe line to run it to the Blacksea,
nearly all Of the 2,750, 900 gallons discharged
every "a hours will be lost in the sands which
lie around the ~orifice, deteriorate in tho
lakes, or mingle with the waters Of the Cas-
plan sea. An effort, Of course, will be made
to put a cap over the well and keep the oil
below tho surface until wanted, but an enor-
NOUS waste will have resulted before this
can possibly be accomplished.
With the present prices which prevail tor
crude oil in Bakur it is questionable whether
there would be much profit in saving this OIL
after storage was paid upon it, for it Il said
that $50 gallons of crude oil sold there viii
realize no greater price than the London I'M
porter pays for one gallon Of refined Ameri.
can oil. A pipe line is what the Russian oil
districts need, and with its completion and
consequent development Of the enormous re
sources of tho Bakur district, it will be very
difficult matter for American oil producers
to successfully compete with the Russian oil
in the European markets.
A pipe line is now projected from Baku1
to Batoum on the Black sea. It will, it is said,
receive the cordial support of the govern
ment and four great European firms, includ-
ing the Rothschilds, Of Paris, who have re
Gently made large investments in oil property
at Bakur and Batoum, and are said to have
bid for the contract to build the line. It will
cost SO, 000, 600 and will be $50 miles long.
The pipe is to be large enough to carry $780,.
OO0, 900 gallons a year and the tariff will be ]
cent a gallon.-Kansas City Journal.